1128 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



must feed largely upon the chrysalides and larvae of insects 

 that are always to be found in such places." 



The interesting experiments made at Ann Arbor, Mich.,' 

 by A. F. ShuU, prove that, in winter, Blarina hrevicauda 

 habitually feeds on snails of the genus Polygyra — that it 

 gathers these into heaps as a sort of store, keeping them alive 

 above ground and in underground dens. In two patches of 

 dry swampland, each less than 20 acres, he found 40 of these 

 heaps, with shells in each numbering from two or three to over 

 one hundred. 



STORAGE I have frequently known it to kill and eat Field-mice, as is 



attested also by all naturalists who have studied the species. 



Yet, in view of the Mouse's superior agility, 



«^^4Ji' j^^^^ it seems unlikely that a Blarina could catch 



one every day, and the only stop-gap I can 



Fig. 260— Excrement of the . . r & r 



s^M^atoshSu"" ^^"^ discern is that already suggested by Mer- 



riam, viz., this Shrew not only eats nuts 



and grain, but stores them up for winter use. Writing of his 



captive, Merriam says:" "He is very fond of beechnuts, and 



thrived when fed exclusively on them for more than a week. 



"One evening, not long ago, I put a handful of beechnuts 

 in his water saucer. He soon found them and carried them 

 off. Part he buried in a hole under the saucer, part under his 

 nest, and the rest in an excavation near one corner of the box. 

 This certainly looks as if the animal was in the habit of hoarding 

 for winter." 



We can readily imagine, then, that it is a perfect windfall 

 for the Blarina when he discovers a fat colony of fat Mice with 

 a tat store of food already laid up; for then, between murder 

 and robbery, he can live happily for a month on a single find. 



The most curious case of storage among small mammals 

 is ascribed by Bachman to this creature.'" After mentioning 

 the long branching tunnels evidently made by the form caro- 



' Loc. cit., p. 514. ' Loc. cit., p. 169. 



'" Quad. N. A., 1849, Vol. II, p. 177. 



